Of Salesmen and False Beliefs
Too often people’s values are based on superficial Ideas, as well as unreal goals that our consumer driven society showcases as the ultimate show of success. In the play The Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller illustrates a society where ethics are based solely around becoming wealthy and obtaining the American dream, through the use of looks and popularity. The main character Willy Loman spends his entire life in fallacy starving for this success. The Death of a Salesman portrays a specific view of the values, dreams, and goals in a consumer driven society. Much like the play our society is driven by ideals of wealth, popularity, and attractiveness and we are faced with falseness of these ideal daily. Plenty of individuals in society search for this similar success in life and career. They may spend their whole lives trying to fall into the category of being a Success. This may lead them to never knowing what true happiness really feels like, because they are searching for something that was never intended to be and it leads to inevitable unhappiness. In the Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman suffers through his daily life, feeling that he is a failure, for having not met society’s unrealistic portrayal of a success. At one point in the play Willy’s friend Charley says to him “When the hell are you going to grow up?” He states this because Willy allows himself to lie to everyone in his life so much that he himself believes that they are the truth. He never wanted to admit to his failures in life. He did not want his family to know the truth that he is not really as popular or successful as he claimed he was. Continuously Willy highlighted his supposed importance, to his sons and instilled in them the idea that they should grow up to be just like him. Sadly part is Willy was never what he claimed he was. He continued to teach those values and ideals of life that he never actually had himself. Willy wanted Biff and Happy to grow up and become a more successful